Terry Murden: Fred Goodwin still the target for angry shareholders

THE parcel is back in Fred Goodwin’s hands, though he’ll be keen to pass it on as it contains another ticking time-bomb, this time in the form of a legal action.

He’s the main target of Royal Bank of Scotland shareholders who have lodged a formal claim against the former chief executive and 16 other executives over the controversial rights issue in 2008.

It’s been rumbling on for almost as long as the lender has been in part-state ownership, so the allegation that the bank misled investors in the prospectus to the £12 billion cash call will contain little that the former directors won’t have already heard.

But now they know that disgruntled shareholders are determined to have their day in court. How long the hearing will take is another matter. Equitable Life policyholders battled for more than a decade to get any sort of satisfaction.

There are two action groups involved in fighting this case and both have got the bit between their teeth, having been fired up by the Financial Services Authority’s decision not to take action of its own against the former RBS directors. In its two-and-a-half year inquiry into the bank’s collapse, the FSA only found evidence of poor management.

Two pivotal allegations in the shareholders’ case are that the bank failed to inform them of a huge loan it had raised in the US at the time of the rights issue and that Goodwin had said shortly before announcing it that the bank had no plans to do so.

RBS says it will vigorously defend itself and will no doubt regard the FSA’s report as proof there was no wrong-doing and no intent to mislead.

To win their case, the shareholders will have to prove that the decision to call the rights issue was more than another symptom of the greed and recklessness that characterised the bank’s culture at the time.

Mystery bidder linked with airport war

THE bidding war for Edinburgh airport is shaping up to be a three-way battle with some jostling for position ahead of the mid-April deadline for offers to be submitted,

The withdrawal of US private equity firm Carlyle Group has left Global Infrastructure Partners, 3i and JP Morgan Asset Management in the race.

The first will go it alone, the second will be partnered by M&G Infracapital and the Universities Superannuation Scheme, while the third is believed to have teamed up with a Scottish firm whose identity remains teasingly unknown.

One source suggested it was Perth-based SSE, formerly Scottish & Southern Energy. That looked a good bet as JP Morgan is known to like dealing with utilities.

SSE declined to comment, but I’m hearing from other reliable sources that it isn’t involved, though it did express an interest in how it might benefit from the airport’s utility assets.

As revealed in Scotland on Sunday, Richard Jeffrey – the former airport boss who also led the trams project – has switched sides, previously joining with Edinburgh financier Ben Thomson in a bid that never took off and now teaming up with 3i.

There was always going to be healthy interest in Edinburgh because of its growth prospects and profile. Fifty parties requested information. Not surprisingly, this has encouraged the airport’s owner BAA to believe it will command a good price, though it is understood that Carlyle became concerned that it may be a little too high.

For the city, though, the enforced sale is shaping up to be a good thing. At least one new owner is keen to ensure more direct flights to leading cities.